Rod threading device



July 13, 1943. E, SMITH v 2,324,176

ROD THREADING DEVICE Filed June i5, 1942 r 2; c mz'Mj 'E- E INVENTOR Patented July 13, 1 943 ROD THREADING DEVICE Elmer Smith, Portland, Ind., assignor to Sheller Manufacturing Corporation, Portland, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application June 15, 1942, Serial No. 447,188

9 Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved device for threading a relatively stifi rod-like member through the mesh of a net-like material which is of greater flexibility than the rod-like member.

More specifically, it is the object of the invention to provide an improved device which may be readily attached or inserted over the end of a rod-like member and will guide the rod back and forth through the mesh openings in the net-like material when the rod is pushed through the material in approximately the plane of the mater al.

While the invention is not limited in its application to any particular form of rod or mesh material, it is illustrated in the accompanying drawing-and described herein in a form adapted for use in threading relatively stiff steel rods through the mesh of a woven wire net of the type employed in woven wire fences. the operation is to stiffen and reinforce the woven wire material and, when so reinforced, the material may be used, for example, to form a llailgding surface for emergency aircraft landing Referring to the drawing in which like numerals apply to like parts of the several views:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a fragmentary section of woven wire net material, reinforced by steel bars' which are threaded. alternately above and below the longitudinal strands of the "mesh material.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the structure i1- lustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side view of the preferred form,

The object ofshowing the means for latching the guiding finger of the device, and

Figure 6 is a view illustrating the mode of operation of the threading device.

As best shown in Figures 1 and 2, the net-like or mesh material in connection with which the invention may be employed is in the form or a common type'of woven wire fence material which is-made up of a pluralityof longitudinally extending strands such as strands III, H, and H which are interconnected by sinuous strands such as-indicated at l3 and it which are twisted about the longitudinal strands and extend diagonally between them. In the present case, it is desired to thread at intervals along-the length of the woven wire material a plurality of transverse-reinforcing steel rods 15 which rods in finally assembled form lie approximately in the plane of the woven wire material, but extend alternately above and below the longitudinal strands In, H, and I2. Inthe particular embodiment shown which is intended. for use as an aircraft landin mat, the. ends of the rods l5 are bent back upon themselves as indicated at l6, so that they surround the longitudinal strand In that extends along the edge of the woven material. It will be understod that the woven wire material is much wider than the small portion illustrated in Figure 1. In actual practice, in the production of landing surfaces for emergency aircraft landing fields, the woven wire material is provided in widths of approximately ten feet and the rods extend transversely of the length of the material from one edge to the other. In view of the necessary length of the rods, and the correspond? ing width of the woven wire netting, it is very diflicult and tedious to thread the rods through the mesh openings alternately and in opposite directions and it is to facilitate that operation that the present device has been developed.

As best shown in Figures 3 and 4, the threading device comprises a body portion 20 which is tapered forwardly at its sides to a bifurcated end portion defining a forwardly opening slot 2|. A guiding finger 22 has its rearward portion extending within the slot 2|.at which point it is pivoted to the body 20 in any suitable manner.

- as by a transverse pin 23 which may be secured in position by riveting over-the ends, as best shown at 24 in Figure 4. In side elevation, the rearward portion of the guiding finger 22 is provided with a pair of oppositely. flared, rearwardly extending cam surfaces 25 and 26 which project, respectively, above. and below the top and bottom surfaces of the body 20. The bottom of the slot 2| of the body member 20 is provided with a longitudinally extending bore 21 containing a ball 28 which is normally'pressed in an outward direction by spring 29 and is adapted to engage in oneaar the other of a pair-of recesses 30 and," in the rearward end of the finger 22. As a result of this construction,'the spring pressed ball will resiliently latch the finger 22 in either a position in which it is swung upwardly from .the plane of the body 20, in which position the recess 30 will receive the ball 28, or in a position notch 3| will receive the ball. If desired, means may be provided in the form of rearward projections (not shown) on the finger for engaging the upper and lower surfaces of the body 20 for limiting swinging movement of the finger beyond the point at which the ball engages in the notches.

-The rear end of the body is provided with any suitable means to attachthe body to the rodlike member which is to be threaded through the netting. In the particular embodiment i1- lustrated, inasmuch as the rod is provided with a U-shaped or bent end portion It, the body 2'0 is made of approximately the same width as the U-shaped end portion and approximately the thickness of th rod and a more or less rectangular sheet metal sleeve member 35 is fitted on the rear end of the body 20 to form a socket for reception of the U-shaped, end of the rod-.15. The sheet metal socket element 35 maybe secured in any desired manner to the body, but in the particular embodiment illustrated, it surrounds a reduced rectangular boss 36 on body 20, illustrated in dotted lines in Figures 3 and-i, and is welded to the body as indicated at 31. The socket is made of such size that the U- shaped end ofthe rod may. be inserted readily but will have a sufficiently close fit so-that the which the finger is swung downwardly from the plane of the body, in which position the It will be apparent from the above description of the device and its mode of operation that there is provided in accordance with the present invention an exceedingly simple, yet practical and positive device for greatly facilitating the threading of relatively stiff rod-like members through the mesh' of a more flexible net. In the particular embodiment illustrated-in which it is desired to thread the rod over and under successive longitudinal strands alternately, it will be apparent that the length of the finger 22 must be lessthan the distance between the strands. It will be apparent, however, that the shape of the threading device as a whole and the probody will be held in approximated alignment with the rod.

In use, a relatively short length of the netting is suspended between a pain of transversely extending supports, such as rollers. The threading device is inserted upon the end of the rod, and the operator holding the rod inserts the projecting finger 22 between the first two longitudinal strands of the wire netting at a point between the supports. Then, holding the rod in approximately the plane of the netting, the operator ,simply pushesthe rod across the width of the netting in approximately that plane in the manner bestshown in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 6, the rod with the threading device mounted thereon has passed beneath longitudinal strand 40, above longitudinal strand 4|, and the finger 22 is just completing its passage beneath the longitudinal strand 43. It will be noted in the position shown in solid lines in Figure 6 that the longitudinal strand has engaged the upper flared cam surface 25 on the finger 22 and has forced that surface downwardly against the retaining action of ball 28 in notch 3i, causing the finger 22 to swing to its uppermost position in which the ball 2. seats in the notch 30. With the finger in this upper position, on further advancej movement of the rod IS, the finger will pass over the next longitudinal strand 44, thus causing the threading device and rod to likewise pass over strand 44. When the rearward end of the finger 22 passes over the strand 44, that strand will engage the cam surface 26 and swing the finger 22 downwardly as shown in dotted lines in Figure 6. The sinuous movement of the finger 22 continues as the rod is pushed through the netting and in practice it is found that the device will portions of the various parts,'including the finger, may be varied to accommodate different types or netting material and to control the manner in which the rod is threaded without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for use in threading a relatively stiff rod-like element through the mesh of a more-flexible net-like material in a direction of the plane of said material, comprising a body member of the sizeto pass through the mesh openings of the material, said member having at its rear end means for attachment to a rodlike element, a forwardly projecting finger carried by said member, the forward end of said finger being movable relative to the longitudinal axis of the body, and means operable as the rod-like element with said member at its forward end is pushed through mesh openings of the material in approximately the plane of the material for altemately moving the forward end of said finger positively thread the rod alternately over and below successive longitudinal strands as rapidly as it is practical to advance the rod. When the rod is threaded entirely across the net, the device is simply removed and may be placed on a sub sequent rod for a repetition of the threading operation.

above and below the path of movement of the rod so that the finger guides the body member and rod-like element alternately over and under strands of said material.

2. A device for use in threading a relatively stiff rod-like element through the mesh of a more flexible net-like material in a direction of the plane of said material, comprising a body member of the size to pass through themesh openings of the material,said member having at its rear end means for attachment to a rod-like element, a forwardly projecting finger carried by said member, the forward end of said finger being movable relative to the longitudinal axis of the body, and means engageable by strands of said material as therod-like element with said member on its forward end is pushed through mesh openings of the material in approximately the plane of the material for alternately moving the forward end of said finger above and below" the path of movement of the rod so that the finger guides the body number and rod-like eleto said member for movement about an axis.

transverse to said rod-like element, and means engageable by successive strands of said material as the rod-like element with saidmember on its forward end is pushed through mesh openings of the material in approximately the plane of the material for alternately swinging said forwardly projecting finger above and below the path of movement of the rod so that the finger guides the body member and rod-like element alternately over and under said strands of said material.

4. A device for use in threading a relatively stitl rod-like element through the mesh of a more flexible net-like material in a direction of the plane of said material, comprising a body member of the size to pass through the mesh openings of the material, said member having at its rear end means for attachment to a rod-like element, a forwardl projecting finger pivotally connected to said member for movement about an axis transverse to said rod-like element, means operable as the rod-like element with said member at its forward end is pushed through a mesh openin of the material in approximately the plane of the material for alternately swinging said forwardly projecting finger above and below the path of movement of the rod so that the finger guides the body member and rod-like element alternately over and under strands of said material, and means to retain said finger in each of the positions above and below the path of movement of the rod between the time it is swung to one of said positions and the time it reenters a mesh opening of the material.

5. A device for use in threading a relatively stiff rod-like element through the mesh of a more flexible net-like material ina direction of the plane of said material, comprising a body member of the size to pass through the mesh openings of the material, said member having at its rear end means for attachment to a rod-like element, at forwardly projecting finger pivotally connected to said member for movement about an axis transverse to said rod-like element, means engageable by strands of said material as the rod-like element with said member on its forward end is pushed through mesh openings of the material in approximately the plane of the material for alternately swinging said forwardly projecting finger above and below the path of movement of the rod so that the finger guides the body member and rod-like element alternately over and under said strands of said material, and means to retain said finger in each of the positions above and below the path of movement of the rod between the time it is swung to one of said positions and the time it re-enters a mesh opening of the material.

6.A device for use in threading a relatively. stifl rod-like element through the mesh of a more flexible net-like material in a direction of the plane of said material, comprising a body member of the size to pass through the mesh openings of the material, said member having at its rear endmeans for attachment to a rod-like element,

a forwardly projecting finger pivotally connectedthe path of movement of saiddevice and causing.

said finger to enter the material at a subsequent mesh opening in the opposite direction, and

means on said finger for engaging said material as said device passes through a inesh opening of said material in said opposite direction for swingme said finger in the oppos e direction out of the' path of movement of said device and causing.

said finger to enter the material at a subsequent mesh opening in said first mentioned direction,

said material.-

whereby wnen said rod with the device on .its forward end is pushed through the material in approximately the plane of the material the device will thread the rod alternately back and forth through said material.

7. A device for use in threading a relatively stifi rod-like element through the mesh of a more flexible net-like material in a direction of the plane of said material, comprising a body member of the size to pass through the mesh openings of the material, said member having at its rear end means for attachment to a rod-like element, a forwardly projecting finger carried by said member, the forward end of said finger be-' ing movable relative to the longitudinal axis of the body, means on said finger adapted to engage the material as said device passes through-a mesh flexible net-like material in a direction-oi the plane of said material, comprising 'a body member of the size to pass through the mesh openings of the material, said member having at its rear end means for attachment to a rod-like element, a forwardly projecting finger pivotally connected to said member for movement about an axis transverse to said rod-like element and projecting forwardly of said member, said finger having oppositely flared cam surfaces at opposite sides adjacent the rear end thereof adapted to alternately engage the material as said device passes alternately through mesh openings in said material in opposite directions and cause the finger to swing about its pivotal connection in a direction to cause said finger to re-enter said material at another mesh opening in the reverse direction when the rod with said device mounted on its forward end is pushed through the material in approximately the plane of the materiaL.

9. A device for use in threading a relatively stiff rod-like element through the mesh of a more flexible net-like material in a direction of the plane of said material, comprising a body member of the size to pass through the mesh openings of the material, said member having at its rear end means for attachment to a rod-like element, a forwardly projecting finger pivotally connected to said member for movement about an axis transverse to' said rod-like element and projecting forwardly of said member, said'finger having oppositely flared cam surfaces at oppositeside's adjacent the rear end thereof adapted to alter! nately engage the material as said device passes alternately through mesh openings in said materialin opposite directions and cause the finger to swing about its pivotal connection in a direction to cause said finger to re-enter said material at another mesh opening in the reverse direction when the rod with said device mounted on its forward end is pushed through the material in approximately the plane of the material, and means to retain said finger in each ofitslimits 'of swinging movement between the time it is swung to such limit and the time it re-enters momma.

e CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

PatentNo. 2,324,176. July 15, 1914.5.

ELHER smmr.

It is hereby cey'tified that error appears in the pz inted specification .of the above numbered patent requiring correction as folioyva: Page 2, second column, line 58, claim 2, for "body number" read body member"; and that the eaid'Letters Patent should be read with'thia correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Peltex zt Office.

Signed and sea1ed th1s 26th day of October, A. 13.1915.

Henry Van Aisdale, (Seal) Actipg commieaioner of lfetenta. 

